into your midst; if he does, give him four feet by six.” On October 16, 1868, Randolph was assassinated by three men in broad daylight. Aiken was detained by state authorities on suspicion of being an accessory-before-the-fact, and freed on $5,000 bond. No one was ever brought to trial for Randolph's assassination. Grange activist, magazine publisher In 1872, Aiken was an activist on behalf of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, more commonly known as the Grange, organizing 76 local chapters across South Carolina. Aiken was a member of the executive committee of the National Grange from 1873–85, served as its chairman in 1875, and was president of the South Carolina Grange from 1875–1877. Starting in 1869, Aiken was a correspondent of The Rural Carolinian, a magazine for southern planters and farmers. He eventually became editor and owner and held those positions until 1877. Congressional service, death Aiken served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis in 1876, and was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fifth and to the four succeeding Congresses (serving from 1877 until 1887). He was chairman of the Committee on Education in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses. With his health declining, Aiken became an invalid during his last term in office and was not a candidate for renomination in 1886. Aiken died in Cokesbury, South Carolina, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Greenwood, South Carolina. His son, Wyatt Aiken (1863–1923), also served in Congress and a first cousin, William Aiken, Jr., became a Congressman and Governor of South Carolina. References External links Retrieved on 2009-04-07 David Wyatt Aiken Papers at South Carolina Digital Library 1828 births 1887 deaths People from Winnsboro, South Carolina American people of Scotch-Irish descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina American planters American slave owners 19th-century American politicians University of South Carolina alumni Confederate States Army officers People of South Carolina in the American Civil War